


testing the waters

by trickztr



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Dave & Klaus Hargreeves During Vietnam, Gen, M/M, Near Death Experiences, Science Experiments, Time Travel, klaus testing his powers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-03
Updated: 2019-03-03
Packaged: 2019-11-08 23:08:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17990246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trickztr/pseuds/trickztr
Summary: What's the point of being sober if he can't test the limits of his newfound powers?I mean, who cares if he might end up dying, right?





	testing the waters

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know anything about reviving people, please don't yell at the obvious inaccuracies depicted here.

Klaus taps the spot on the page twice. He worries his bottom lip between his lips, mulling it over. The note is specific enough.

He leans back and grabs one of Five’s notebooks. Cross-references them and circles the information he needs.

Yeah. It should work, in theory.

"Well, here goes nothing." Klaus mutters as he lays down on the couch.

"This is a bad idea," Ben says, perched at the far end of the couch, by Klaus' feet. "You shouldn't do this alone. At least ask Five--"

"Technically, I am." He replies dryly, pointing at his brother's notes. "And I'm not alone." He winks.

"You've never done this before. _You don't even know if it'll work!_ What if something goes wrong, huh?"

Klaus scoffs. "What's the worst that could happen? I could die? Been there, done that, it's not even that bad, you just whine too much."

"Your particles could scatter across the time-space continuum."

Klaus rolls his eyes. "Now you're just making shit up."

"It's the third paragraph on the page you just read."

Klaus frowns. "No shit." He picks up the notebook again, rereads the whole page.

He tosses the notes aside and lays back down again.

"Pray for me, then."

Ben keeps talking. Klaus knows this because his brother's mouth keeps moving, but thankfully he can't hear him. The "move" requires him to focus one hundred percent of his energy into the task.

Klaus is nothing if not thorough, he thinks as he adjusts the earphones deeper into into his ears.

He turns the volume all the way up and as Jim Morrison's velvety voice leaks into his brain, he tries to concentrate on his breathing.

Hargreeves' notes specifically state Klaus should have the ability to project his consciousness to a different space or time. That physics was supposed to be his bitch and whatnod. Very well, then. Time to make the space-time continuum his bitch.

The melody picks up. The lyrics don't. The sultry, rich voice rumbles through his muscles and bones as it did that same night a year - fifty - year - s - ago. Klaus tries to focus on that, his brow creasing with the effort.

He can feel the sweat seeping through his shirt. The heat, the only constant in their lives back then. That and the stench of rotting matter.

Holy fuck. Either it's working or he should really meditate more often, Klaus figures.

Klaus sees his brothers in arms all get ready for the morning drills. The sheets on the couch, back in 2019, itch on his back. The smell of sweat and unshowered men hits him like a brick to the face.

It worked. Kind of.

It's bizarre, he thinks to himself, watching a different version of yourself touch someone you love. He's always felt an intense desire to punch himself, but his instincts here were stronger than usual.

Klaus remembers this morning. They're not even doing anything special. He brushed his hand lightly against Dave's hand, and the tiny smile he got as a responde was enough to get him through that entire day.

That night, after they snuck into the woods to be alone, Dave mentioned something about moving somewhere in the North when this was all over. Sharing a one-bedroom and getting a couple of cats.

Klaus always hated cats, but he remembers how excited he was about the idea. They'd have 4 and name them after the Beatles.

"You're an idiot," he mumbles to his past-self.

"What's your plan, here?"

Klaus is positive he doesn't actually have a heartbeat in this particular form, but he still feels it skipping a beat. "Jesus Christ!" He yelps, clutching his chest. "How the fuck are you here?!"

Ben shrugs. "You tell me."

"Ugh, I don't miss this." He shakes his head. "I still don't get it. You're not supposed to be a ghost in thi--- You know what. Not gonna waste any more brain cells on this. Shoooo." He motions to his brother. "Go into the light, or whatever."

Ben swats him away, but it obviously doesn't feel like anything. Neither of them are corporeal here.

"Has it occurred to you, genius, that while you're creeping on your past self, your present body might be dying?"

Klaus stares at him for a few seconds.

"I'll admit I hadn't thought of that, but get this." He turns his back and walks out of the barracks.

"You should go back." Ben's words sound close. Too close. The little shit followed him. "This isn't healthy."

"Oh, my God. Fuck off already?"

"What do you expect to accomplish here? Warn them?"

"I don't know!" He shouts. Ben doesn't say anything, just watches him.

Klaus hates it. And how the fuck is it possible that his eyes are stinging right now?! He presses the heels of his hands against them.

"I just miss him, ok? I just figured there'd be no harm in testing my limits _and_  getting a little peek, you know?"

Before them, his unit gets in formation, ready to march on.

McAllister will die in less than an hour.

"Do you think this is kind of like the Matrix? If I die here, I die in real life?"

"If you stay here you'll probably die anyway."

"Sweet."

Ben pushes him. This time he actually feels something.

"Do it again!" Klaus says, adrenaline pumping through his immaterial body.

Ben frowns, staring at his fists. "This shouldn't be working."

Klaus giggles like a school boy. "I know, right? Come on! Right on the jaw."

"There's probably a more productive way to go about this," Ben says, bending down to pick up a twig. It actually lifts off the ground.

Klaus whimpers with excitement, covering his mouth with both hands. It comes out muffled when he says. "Holy shit, this is so trippy!" He looks around. "Do you think anyone else can see this? Oh, my God! Do you think they think there's ghosts around?"

Ben fixes him with a _look_.

"No, you're right. There _are_ ghosts around them."

Ben tosses the twig forward. It hits one of the jeeps. Someone actually looks in their direction.

"Okay, this is so fucked up." Klaus claps. "Come on, let's see how else we can fuck up physics."

His brother grabs one of his wrists.

"Klaus," he says levelly. "It's time to go."

"Or I could stay. Now that we've listed my options--"

"You know you're dying. It's too much for a first time."

"Funny you should mention that. Ironically, a bear said the same thing before he popped my cherry, but guess what? Like you, he was wrong." He turns to walk away, but Ben tugs on his wrist again. "What?!"

"Go back. You can't do this to them. They need you."

Klaus pulls his arm, fury bubbling up inside him. " _They_ need me!" He points at his unit, filing into the bus. "They were the only family I ever had. They were the only us who ever gave a shit whether I died or not!"

"Wow, fuck you." Ben laughs and it sounds so wrong coming out of him. Klaus can't think of a single time his brother ever cursed. "You wanna play the victim? Fine, I'll bite. No one ever gave a shit about you? Maybe you forgot this, but Allison slept on your bedroom floor when you got that fever, remember? We were 10 and nothing Mom did was working. Allison spent the whole night holding your hand, going on and on about how she'd heard a rumor you'd gotten better."

Klaus scoffs.

"Or the first time you od'ed at home? That Luther carried you in his arms to the E.R. so Dad wouldn't know about it? Or maybe that time you tripped down the stairs and Diego literally jumped out of the second floor to hold your head before you broke your neck on the last step?"

"Or the time--"

"Don't," Klaus warns through gritted teeth.

"--the time I covered for you on a mission I wasn't assigned to because I knew how scared you were." He shakes his head. "Guess we both should've stayed home that day."

"You're an asshole," Klaus spits. "If you think you can guilt-trip me into not doing something stupid, I got news for you: I _invented_ guilt-tripping."

He storms off and hops on one of the buses leaving camp.

It's weird when Ben doesn't materialize to talk him out of it.

\--

McAllister gets a bullet to the head the second they step out into enemy territory.

Watching from a distance sucks just as much as it did when he was a foot away from the body.

His vision blurs and static nearly deafens him a second. He feels a jolt course through him.

**_"Again!"_ **

He hears someone shout. It's distant. Muffled. Kind of like hearing someone say something while your head is underwater.

It vaguely sounds like Five.

He blinks and he's back in the jungle, bullets railing everywhere. Klaus actually takes cover.

Electricity jolts through him again.

**_"He's crashing!"_ **

That's unmistakebly Mom's voice. He can feel her breath against his skin.

"No," he mutters. Shakes his head, and mortars are splitting up the sky. "No. No, no, no, no, no."

_**"Klaus!"** _

Diego sounds desperate. He looks up, and sure enough, Luther is holding him back. Behind them, vietcongs sprout from holes in the ground, shooting like mad men.

_**"What the fuck happened?"** _

_**"An experiment gone wrong, it seems,"**_ Five coldly replies. Klaus feels cold pressure against his chest. They're covering him in ice?!

_**What's that suppo--"** _

"Klaus, watch out!"

He turns his head at the sound of his name, and watches as his past self is pushed down by Dave.

He remembers this. Dave will slit a vietcong's throat while Klaus drags a bleeding Santos back to safety. They made such a great team.

 **_"Adrenaline, 10cc!"_** Five commands, but still sounds oddly calm.

Fuck.

Klaus acts on impulse. He jumps over O'Hara's body and into his own.

"Shit," he shouts. It sounds echoed in his ears.

Dave gives him a confused look. "You hurt?" He grunts.

Klaus drops Santos, who hits his head against his boots.

"I gotta say something and you gotta listen carefully, okay?"

Dave looks around, nervous. "Can't it wait?"

Another mortar explodes somewhere nearby.

"No!"

**_"Quickly! His pressure's dropping!"_ **

Klaus grabs Dave's face. "Tomorrow, hey, Dave, listen! Tomorrow, remember this, tomorrow you don't go forward!"

"What? What do you--"

"When the Sarge tells us to move forward, I want you to fall back--"

**_"Allison, get Diego out of here. Luther, hold him back. He'll probably jolt out of the table after this."_ **

Klaus shuts eyes, shakes his head. He can barely breathe.

He grabs Dave's arms.

"Tomorrow, when they tell you to advance, do this _for me:_  fall back."

"You're not making any sense!"

"It will, tomorrow."

"Wha--"

\--

His heart's beating so fast it feels like it wants to break out of his chest and out in the streets. His lungs can't seem to work fast enough to keep up.

Klaus gasps for air, doubling over and up. The only thing holding him together are Luther's gross arms.

Well, apparentely he didn't actually die.

Out of the corner of his eye he sees Ben sitting on a desk. He's watching intensely, hands cupped over his mouth and under his nose.

"Welcome back, Number Four." Five says. He removes the gloves, which comically make that slapping sound. Klaus wants to laugh, but everything in his body hurts too much. "The rest of you can leave now, thank you."

His siblings wait a second too long. They all look at him like they're still half expecting him to collapse and die.

Fair enough.

"Now, please. My patient needs to rest."

They finally file out of the room.

Klaus does collapse on the surgical table. He feels as though he just ran a marathon. And then a truck ran him over.

Mom, bless her heart, actually takes his hand. "You gave us quite a fright, Klaus!" She says, chipper. "What would you like for dinner?"

"Mom," Five says, his voice dripping with fake politeness. "I think I heard Vanya call for you?"

"Oh! Did she? Well, It is, indeed, almost time for her bath."

Klaus hears her heels clicking against the tiles as she quickly walks out of the room. Phew. He was almost believing her affection was real. Threat neutralized.

Five presses a stethoscope to his naked chest. Feels cold as fuck.

"Guess you _do_ know how to do ev--"

"Shhh, don't talk." Five scolds him. "Inhale and exhale as naturally as you normally would."

Klaus does as instructed. He gasps and coughs up on the first try. Five waits patiently, but his scowl tells a different story. He eventually gets it right.

"Congratulations, your cardio-respiratory system was unaffected by your little trip." He puts the stethoscope away. "Which is not saying much."

"Yay," Klaus says, without any inflection.

"So," his brother chimes in, smirking maliciously. "Getting ambitious with your powers, consequences be damned, I see. Relatable, as the kids apparently say these days."

Klaus sighs. "Not you, too."

Ben climbs off the desk and comes closer, standing behind and over Five. They both look tragically young.

"I'm curious," Five goes on. "What exactly were you hoping to accomplish?"

"Isn't that the million dollar question?" Klaus chuckles.

Five makes a quiet sound, acknowledging him. "I wouldn't price it so high." He sticks his hands in his pockets. "I suppose it is partially my fault, though. I've been so preoccupied with straightening our timeline it didn't occur to me that one of my younger siblings might get curious about my progress."

Klaus attempts to get up. The last thing he needs is any more of this bullshit.

Five presses him down on the bed. It's subtle, but firm. For the life of him, Klaus can't get up again.

"You've read my research and actually understood my equations enough to replicate them. I'm impressed, I have to say. What's even more interesting about this, is that I'd specifically stated by the end of that page that your human mind wouldn't be able to survive an astral projection of that magnitude. Perhaps you missed that part in your hurry to explore your talents?"

" _Mayhaps_ I didn't understand that chickenscratch you call handwriting." He takes a deep breath. "Did it..." He licks his lips and tries again. "Are you aware of any changes or--"

"Ah," Five nods. "So that's what it was about." He clicks his tongue and sways on the balls of his feet. "Trying to alter time, I see. "Well. I wouldn't know the difference, would I?"

Ben shakes his head. "Nothing's changed."

Klaus feels something sit heavily on his chest. "So much for that, then."

"I admire your enthusiasm, Number Four, but maybe don't try it alone next time."

Klaus slides his legs off the table. This time Five doesn't stop him. He falls on his ass. His limbs feel like noodles.  
"There won't _be_ a next time."

Five considers him for a moment. Klaus holds that gaze, which - and it's creepy to even acknowledge that - resemble their father's so much.

When his brother offers a hand, Klaus takes it gladly and goes up on his feet, extra careful to stand on them this time.

"They were really worried about you, just so you know," Five says, gathering the medical tools scattered across the counter. "Diego nearly broke sound speed getting here."

Klaus nods as he puts his coat on. "Dully noted."

The sound of metal clanking almost stops him in his tracks.

"It was unpleasant to have to bring you back to life," for the first time since he got back, Five sounds something other than bored, contemptious or annoyed. He sounds...tired.

"In my defense, I was hoping none of you would actually see any of it."

"Yeah, well, we did." Five turns around. "Was it worth it?"

"Nope." He shrugs. "But hey, I learned a new trick. Yaaayy."

Five rolls his eyes. "Yes, I'm sure you'll be a hit in your social circle."

"Anyway," and just like that Five is back to his usual self. Pragmatic, analytical, cold and right to the point. Klaus would never admit it, but he almost likes it. "What did you learn from all this?"

"That I must not touch Papa's things," he throws finger guns at his brother. "Did I get it right?"

"I'm serious. _Something_  must be salvaged from this terrible experience."

"Well, I learned that The Doors is trippier than originally planned, I guess. Man, the sixties sure were fucked up."

A smile spreads over Five's lips. "The sixties, huh?"

"Way to go," Ben gives him a thumbs up. "Just spit it out, man. You know you want to."

Klaus takes a seat by one of the stools next to him. Five leans against the counter.

"I went back. To where I'd gone when I stole the briefcase from your pals. Turns out time-travelling ain't no biggie, after all." He runs a hand over his face. "It was the weirdest experience of my life, and that's saying something. I possessed my self from the past and then you brought me back to this shit hole we call reality. Totally not worth it."

Ben says, "You should let them help you," at the same time Five casually offers, "If you'd like to verge on the more theoretical aspects of this research... I'd like to help you."

Klaus nods, and he's looking at Ben when he shakes Five's hand. "Thanks, little brother. I'll definitely think about it."


End file.
